Making of epic film ‘Giant’ chronicled
When you think of big movies — those with ample casts and elaborate set pieces — you might have a certain type of movie in mind.
Perhaps you think of movies that aim to re-create significant episodes in history, such as the Civil War (“Gone with the Wind”) or Russian Revolution (“Doctor Zhivago”).
Good choices both — but, in 1956, filmmaker George Stevens proved that there is more than one way to make a big movie.
That year, Warner Bros. released “Giant,” an ambitious adaptation of Edna Ferber’s 1952 novel that revolves around Texas cattle baron Bick Benedict and his high-born wife, Leslie.
At heart, the film tells a relatively straightforward, albeit multi-generational, domestic tale — there is no scene comparable to, say, the burning of Atlanta in “Gone with the Wind” — yet Stevens decided it warranted the scope of an epic, resulting in a running • “Giant: Elizabeth Taylor, Rock Hudson, James Dean, Edna Ferber and the Making of a Legendary American Film” (St. Martin’s, 323 pages, $27.99) by Don Graham
time of about 3 hours and 20 minutes.
In an interview excerpted in a new book about the making of “Giant,” Stevens took pride in producing a movie of protracted length. “The reflective film is the service we can perform as against this other visual medium, television,” he said, “which has to move fast and tell its story within extremely limited time.”
Author Don Graham’s book adopts a similarly exhaustive approach. Graham focuses on the journey “Giant” took to the screen, but it also describes the backstories of its main players, including the performers cast as Bick and Leslie: Rock Hudson and Elizabeth Taylor. Appearing in the final production before his death, James Dean co-starred as a fledgling oilman.
Stevens was a stickler for detail. Graham quotes Warner Bros. executive Eric Stacey, who presented his concerns to studio boss Jack Warner before a frame of film had been shot: “I believe that once the green light is given to go ahead with this picture, it will be impossible to control the costs, due to Mr. Stevens’s methods of shooting.”
As Graham explains, Stevens was painstaking during all phases of production — not just when the cameras rolled. “Most of the writing was done at George’s house on Riverside Drive,” said co-screenwriter Ivan Moffat, who with Fred Guiol ultimately produced a 175-page script. “He attended every story conference.”
The director was unshakeable in his belief in location shooting, ultimately setting up shop in Marfa, Texas.
His approach to actors was idiosyncratic, too. “He had a habit of suspending a scene before it was done,” Graham writes, “walking off by himself, pipe clenched in his teeth, and continuing walking alone, thinking.”
Taylor and Dean bristled, as did Warner, who was upset over Stevens’ meticulous methods in capturing a sequence featuring Mercedes McCambridge being tossed from a horse. “I will wager that 5,000 feet or more was shot on this horse,” Warner complained.
All told, Graham reports, about 875,000 feet of film was generated during the over-budget and overschedule shoot. Yet “Giant” was a box-office and critical smash, netting Stevens an Oscar for best director.
Graham’s definitive account is a must-read for such fans — or anyone else interested in the making of a one-of-a-kind epic.